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Death is when your life really starts. That, at least, was the belief of the ancient Egyptians, and they prepared for the afterlife by taking everything with them, plus the kitchen sink. If you thought the way your mother packed for a three week vacation was over the top, then you haven’t seen an Egyptian burial chamber. In Valley of the Kings, your goal is to stuff your tomb with more things than the other players, meaning that you’ll be richer than they are in the afterlife. And that’s all that counts, isn’t it?

I doesn’t actually take a lot of rules to create a great game. A very small set of simple rules plus one minimal twist is all it takes. A minimal twist like requiring you to predict the future. Welcome to Wizard.

They say no one ever escaped from Alcatraz. If you want to be the first, you will have to work together with the other inmates. But watch out, or you might be left behind, because for all its cooperation required, Alcatraz: The Scapegoat is anything but a cooperative game.

The ultimate question about life, the universe and everything can finally be answered. Who would win in a fight, Pirates or Ninjas? 42. Sorry, doesn’t make sense after all. But at least you can answer all the other big questions as well. Dinosaurs or Robots? Aliens or Zombies? All that and more now has an answer, and the answer is Smash Up.

Combining boardgames with mobile apps into a game that people actually want to play is the current Philosophers’ Stone and Holy Grail rolled into one for game designers and publishers. The Philosophers’ Grail, maybe. Previous attempts have had lukewarm success at best. But Alchemists is the first in a new wave of games with companion app, and it might just have found the magic formula how do it right.

7 Wonders is still one of the most popular games out there. Simple rules, quick to play even with 7 players, different every time you play. It’s no wonder the expansions keep coming. They might not necessarily improve the game, just because it’s very good already, but they add enough to keep 7 Wonders interesting even after many, many games played. Babel is the latest expansion, and the one that changes the game the most yet.

“Build a Better Dystopia” is not a phrase you hear every day. Better for who, you will probably ask. Better for you, that’s who! Because who else matters? When you talk about creating a better Dystopia, that means better for you, and that means that you’re in charge of the whole thing. Can you get there?